Two highly polarized quasi-stellar objects discovered by the Two Micron All Sky Survey

We present optical observations of two remarkable new active galactic nucle i (AGNs) discovered by the Two Micron All Shy Survey. Both are classified a s quasi-stellar objects (QSOs) based on their optical spectra, near-IR colo rs, and near-IR and [O III] lambda 5007 luminosities, but their optical pol arizations are among the highest seen for nonblazar AGNs-approaching 15% fo r 2MASSI J151653.2+190048. The polarized light spectrum for each object exh ibits broad Balmer emission lines but lacks the narrow lines that are evide nt in the total light spectrum. This is most pronounced for the type 1.5 ob ject 2MASSI J165939.7+183436, where broad lines dominate only in polarized light. The polarization properties of these AGNs suggest that dust near the nucleus at least partially obscures the AGNs and that material probably in termixed with the narrow-line-emitting gas scatters nuclear light into our line of sight. These QSOs illustrate the variety of highly polarized AGNs t hat have been missed by traditional optical search techniques and demonstra te that such objects are exposed by surveys in the near-IR.