EARLY OPTICAL SPECTRA OF NOVA V1369 CEN SHOW PRESENCE OF LITHIUM LUCA IZZO

摘要: 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 blue–shifted 7Li I λ6708 Å. The absorption line, moving at-550 km/s, was observed in five high-resolution spectra of the nova obtained at different epochs. On the basis of the intensity of this absorption line we infer that a single nova outburst can inject in the Galaxy MLi= 0.3-4.8× 10− 10 M⊙. Given the current estimates of Galactic nova rate, this amount is sufficient to explain the puzzling origin of the overabundance of Lithium observed in young star populations.