Solar eclipse: why the shadow moves from west to east

It is great to simulate many physics problems, you can play with gravity, wind, buoyancy, light, and more.

Why I decided to make the video

I saw a video of VOX with NASA scientist, showing a clip where the moon is spinning wayyyy faster than the earth (more angular velocity) which is very very wrong.
This is the type of thing that erodes confidence in major organizations and prompts crazy stuff like flat earth society, that we were never in the moon and much more dangerous, people not believing in climate change
min 2:00

(video based on the previous one, from flat earth society.. and they are right to be doubtful.. unfortunately, please go there and show them this video ;)

This is a video from NASA, what the hell? :D seems like the moon is a death star thing and is shooting a ray of dark energy
Where is the sun? What is rotating and how fast? =/

This is a FAQ from NASA:
Why do eclipse tracks move eastward even though the Earth rotates from west to east?
Because the Moon moves to the east in its orbit at about 3,400 km/hour. Earth rotates to the east at 1,670 km/hr at the equator, so the lunar shadow moves to the east at 3,400 – 1,670 = 1,730 km/hr near the equator. You cannot keep up with the shadow of the eclipse unless you traveled at Mach 1.5.

This question is weird, the counterintuitive thing is not that the earth rotates from west to east, actually if it rotated 5 times faster the shadow would be moving westward, the weird thing is that WE see the moon moving westward, so it would make sense, in a way, for the shadow to do the same, but it doesn’t. Sigh, they are correct, of course, but it’s hard to get a right answer if you ask the wrong question.

note: this video is an update on an older one that had a small mistake on the moons size

[SierraSlim]

Ok, nicely done! It was stuck on the fact that earth's angular velocity is 27 times higher than that of the moon (explaining the daily westward travel of the moon in our sky). The moon never catches up. But your model clearly shows that tangential velocity comes into play during the eclipse. Thanks.

[LyubomirIko]

Kind of related...One mind-boggling question: Can a shadow of an object move faster than the speed of light?

For example - if I had enough powerful light source to put light and cast shadow to the face of the Moon; and I sway my hand fast between the light source and the Moon - wouldn't the silhouette of my hand move greater distance, faster than the speed of light?

[shayamaldolai]

Why light of the moon doesn't follow linear velocity??

For light and for shadow two different explanation?

[primonomeultimonome]

Nice video. You got a lot of sad comments by flatearthers, and I'm afraid you may get even more because I used your video to debunk some of their claims.

[nickmerix]

Why dont you hang 2 balls to scale to represent the earth and moon turn on the light give the earth a spin and see what direction the shadow moves?

[cookeaw]

You're Algodoo link doens't work anymore.

[heathcarmody]

Nice video! I updated my model to include a shadow that moves straight across like yours. I'm trying to determine if the umbra would move in relation to the penumbra or if it would be insignificant.

[emerituse]

The reason the moon's shadow moved west to east is the same reason absolutely everything's shadow on the surface of the earth moves west to east. It's the same reason your shadow moves opposite your direction of travel when you pass directly under a street light. It's not very complicated. =)

[hifzu]

Your pluto and its shadow move together. Why doesnt your moon and its shadow move together? LOOOOL

[artificialorigin]

Okay so in that sense the eclipse shadow would last approximately 12hrs moving slowly from west to east.

[thierryherreman]

The moon in your model goes the wrong way!It goes from west to east.Is that accidentally or intentionally?

[getreal]

with the north pole being the reference.. earth speed at equator is 15 degree per hour.. while the moon taking a longer path travels a measly 0.5 degree per hour.. trust your common sense people..

[skiaddict]

if this model were true, we would see the moon rise in the west and set in the east.  the moon's revolution does not exceed the speed of the earth in relation to the surface of the earth.  sorry

[TRUTHandLIGHT]

Your model is incorrect. You show a large beam of light from the sun causing a shadow movement because the MOON MOVES. There are 3 bodies to deal with. 1. the light source. 2. the light blocker. 3. the shadow receiver. It is easier to use a model where the earth does not spin. If the earth does not spin what happens to the shadow? a. it goes east. b. it goes west. c. it stays still. C is the correct answer (try this out). Note: a shadow CAN"T MOVE unless the #1 light source or the #3 shadow receiver is moving. THE LIGHT BLOCKER (THE MOON) CAN'T CREATE MOVEMENT OF A SHADOW--IT CAN ONLY OBSTRUCT LIGHT.

[alexfarias]

I'm a flat earther and you have me thinking now with this simulation. But something that you can't deny is the shadow in your video is much much bigger than what we actually see. You will never be able to explain a tiny shadow from a huge moon. Theres a million things wrong with the spinning globe model. Also the speed of the shadow would be much slower if your model is correct. Too many things wrong with the official heliocentric model.

[vincebernau]

Hahaha what a bad experiment...your sun keeps being behind the moon and your moon was faster than, earths rotation, and still you call it angular speed