<P> In 2011 a dedicated search for suitable KBOs using ground telescopes was started by mission scientists . Large ground telescopes with wide - field cameras, notably the twin 6.5 - meter Magellan Telescopes in Chile, the 8.2 - meter Subaru Observatory in Hawaii, and the Canada--France--Hawaii Telescope were used to search for potential targets . Through the citizen - science project, the public helped to scan telescopic images for possible suitable mission candidates by participating in the Ice Hunters project . The ground - based search resulted in the discovery of about 143 KBOs of potential interest, but none of these were close enough to the flight path of New Horizons . Only the Hubble Space Telescope was deemed likely to find a suitable target in time for a successful KBO mission . On June 16, 2014, time on Hubble was granted . Hubble has a much greater ability to find suitable KBOs than ground telescopes . The probability that a target for New Horizons would be found was estimated beforehand at about 95% . </P> <P> On October 15, 2014, it was revealed that Hubble's search had uncovered three potential targets, temporarily designated PT1 ("potential target 1"), PT2 and PT3 by the New Horizons team . All are objects with estimated diameters in the 30--55 km (19--34 mi) range, too small to be seen by ground telescopes, at distances from the Sun of 43--44 AU, which would put the encounters in the 2018--2019 period . The initial estimated probabilities that these objects are reachable within New Horizons' fuel budget are 100%, 7%, and 97%, respectively . All are members of the "cold" (low - inclination, low - eccentricity) classical Kuiper belt, and thus very different from Pluto . PT1 (given the temporary designation "1110113Y" on the HST web site), the most favorably situated object, is magnitude 26.8, 30--45 km (19--28 mi) in diameter, and will be encountered around January 2019 . A course change to reach it required about 35% of New Horizons' available trajectory - adjustment fuel supply . A mission to PT3 was in some ways preferable, in that it is brighter and therefore probably larger than PT1, but the greater fuel requirements to reach it would have left less for maneuvering and unforeseen events . Once sufficient orbital information was provided, the Minor Planet Center gave provisional designations to the three target KBOs: 2014 MU 69 (PT1), 2014 OS 393 (PT2), and 2014 PN 70 (PT3). By the fall of 2014, a possible fourth target, 2014 MT 69, had been eliminated by follow - up observations . PT2 was out of the running before the Pluto flyby . The spacecraft will also study almost 20 KBOs from afar . </P> <P> On August 28, 2015, (486958) 2014 MU (PT1) was chosen as the flyby target . The necessary course adjustment was performed with four engine firings between October 22 and November 4, 2015 . The flyby is scheduled for January 1, 2019 . Funding was secured on July 1, 2016 . </P> <P> Aside from its flyby of (486958) 2014 MU, the extended mission for New Horizons calls for the spacecraft to conduct observations of, and look for ring systems around, between 25 and 35 different KBOs . In addition, it will continue to study the gas, dust and plasma composition of the Kuiper belt before the mission extension ends in 2021 . </P>

Which is a large kuiper belt object that was visited by new horizons in 2015