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This question was single-handedly marked as a duplicate by a user with a Gold Badge privilege. As such, only 3 votes to close were needed.

First of all, I referenced the duplicate question before even asking my question. I did this specifically because I found that it did not ask what I was looking for.

Second of all, nobody even bothered responding to my comments. This meant I had no time to edit my post, which is not particularly fair of them to do.

Why was this marked as a duplicate?

And why is a single non-moderator user allowed to close questions immediately without the full 5 votes? That seems a bit ridiculous to me.

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    $\begingroup$ They are similar questions because iron is a metal, but they aren't duplicates. $\endgroup$
    – Levi C. Olson
    Oct 5, 2019 at 4:06
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    $\begingroup$ It's now open again $\endgroup$
    – Separatrix
    Oct 5, 2019 at 15:12
  • $\begingroup$ Just to round this question off, I don't believe it's a duplicate either by either of the two definitions as none of the answers from the "other" question perfectly fit this one. I should say - closed in error. Your millage may vary. $\endgroup$
    – Escaped dental patient.
    Oct 6, 2019 at 2:45
  • $\begingroup$ "I did this specifically because I found that it did not ask what I was looking for." - You should have mentioned that in the question from the beginning, and explained why it didn't answer your question. That may have helped stave off the initial close votes. $\endgroup$
    – F1Krazy
    Oct 6, 2019 at 14:25

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One question asks *can I have a planet made of iron" and the other asks "can I have a planet made metals".

Both questions have answers mentioning Mercury and Psyche 16. A little bit of googling and wikipedia reading will show you why: iron is the heaviest element you'll get from most stars, anything heavier comes from novae and supernovae.

Your question seems to me like an extrapolation of the one that came first. It would be like having a question that asks "can we have cars" and then another, newer one that asks "can we have vehicles with engines".

If you have a golden badge on a tag, you can close any question in that tag as a duplicate. It's not that it brings the necessary amount down to three. The question would be closed just the same if my vote had been the first. But SE is community driven and if five people with enough reputation think the closure is wrong, they can revert it. That happened. I'm still convinced the question is a duplicate though.

In the near future, it is very probable that the number of votes necessary to close and reopen a question will be reduced from five to the original three, just like it was in SO up until 2009. Here is why.

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