 Scientists have monitored only a relatively small number of stars in the search for exoplanets. The discovery of a potentially habitable planet like Gliese 581 g so early in the search might mean that habitable planets are more widely distributed than had been previously believed. According to Vogt, the discovery "implies an interesting lower limit on the fraction of stars that have at least one potentially habitable planet as there are only ~ 116 known solar-type or later stars out to the 6.3 parsec distance of Gliese 581". This finding foreshadows what Vogt calls a new, second Age of Discovery in exoplanetology:
