A Men’s Fitness report investigates the scientific evidence that explores the effects of the moon on sleep and sleep patterns.
The end of summer and start of fall is marked by a Harvest Moon—the full moon that falls (or, rather, rises) closest to the autumnal equinox, September 22. That Harvest Moon will peak at 3:05pm Eastern Daylight Time on Friday, September 16th, according to space.com. (You can also check out the lunar eclipse happening simultaneously; you won’t be able to see it in the States, but you can watch it from a live webcast here, at slooh.com.)
Now, werewolf jokes aside, there’s been some debate over the moon’s ability to sway and throw off our sleep patterns.
A University of Basel in Switzerland study in the journal Current Biology suggests people tend to get lower-quality sleep around the time of full moons, losing about 20 minutes of sleep compared to what they get during a new moon.
