Early Optical Spectra of Nova V1369 Cen Show the Presence of Lithium

We present early high-resolution spectroscopic observations of the nova V1369 Cen. We have detected an absorption feature at 6695.6 Å that we have identified as blueshifted 7 Li i λ 6708 Å. The absorption line, moving at −550 km s −1 , was observed in five high-resolution spectra of the nova obtained at different epochs. Based on the intensity of this absorption line, we infer that a single nova outburst can inject in the Galaxy = 0.3–4.8 × 10 −10 . Given the current estimates of the Galactic nova rate, this amount is sufficient to explain the puzzling origin of the overabundance of lithium observed in young star populations.