An extraordinary scattered broad emission line in a type 2 quasi-stellar object

An infrared-selected, narrow-line quasi-stellar object has been found to exhibit an extraordinarily broad H emission line in polarized light. Both the extreme width (35,000 km s(-1) full-width at zero intensity) and 3,000 km s(-1) redshift of the line centroid with respect to the systemic velocity suggest emission in a deep gravitational potential. An extremely red polarized continuum and partial scattering of the narrow lines at a position angle common to the broad-line emission imply extensive obscuration, with few unimpeded lines of sight to the nucleus.