In the world of technology, it is sometimes easy to overlook the big picture. This year has been monumental for finding new alien planets. Scientists are excited that in 2012, we may find the first true alien planet which is capable of sustaining intelligent life.

NASA's Kepler telescope has been busy locations thousands of potential candidates, but many of them still need verified over the coming months. Two particular finds have been interesting, as they both are Earth sized planets could potentially be home to liquid water and therefore life on some level.

Researchers are hoping that the ‘alien earth' world could be found in 2012. Natalie Batalha, deputy leader of the Kepler science team at NASA said “I'm guessing that this next planet catalog is going to see, finally, some numbers of points that are really, truly Earth-sized and in the habitable zone. That's something that I really look forward to, is getting those candidates.”

Space.com has a lot of exciting stories on this years work and you can vote now for the ‘most intriguing Alien Planets of 2011‘.

The findings this year have been incredible. When 2011 started, there were 528 alien worlds confirmed, and later in the year this rose to 713. By December 5th scientists has discovered 1,094 new exoplanet candidates for a total of 2,326 in just 16 months. Of all of these findings, only 33 will be followed up with more research as they prove the most interesting. Researchers say that 80 percent of these 33 planets have real potential for serious findings.

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