Animate arrow on sphere based on list

Question

I am trying to animate the movement of an Arrow on a sphere. I have this code that allows me to manipulate the arrow, but I want it to move based on a set of data. I have no idea how to 'listplot' inside a Graphics3D?:

Manipulate[
  Graphics3D[{{Opacity[0.5], Sphere[]}, {EdgeForm[{Dashed, Gray}], 
    FaceForm[None], Cylinder[{{0, 0, -.001}, {0, 0, .001}}]}, {Dashed,
    Gray, Line[{{0, 0, 0}, {1, 0, 0}}]}, {Dashed, Gray, 
    Line[{{0, 0, 0}, {0, 1, 0}}]}, {Dashed, 
    Line[{{0, 0, 0}, {0, 0, 1}}]}, Arrow[{{1, 0, 0}, {1.3, 0, 0}}], 
    Arrow[{{0, 1, 0}, {0, 1.3, 0}}], 
    Arrow[{{0, 0, 1}, {0, 0, 1.3}}], {Purple, 
    Arrow[{{0, 0, 0}, {π/4, 0, π/4}}]}, 
    Text[Style["x", 18], {1.4, 0, 0}], 
    Text[Style["y", 18], {0, 1.4, 0}], 
    Text[Style["Easy Axis [\!\(\*OverscriptBox[\(z\), \(^\)]\)]", 
     18], {0, 0, 1.4}], 
    Text[Style["H", 18, Purple], {π/3.4, 0, π/3.4}], 
    Text[Style["M", 14, 
    Darker[Green]], .5 {Cos[θ] Sin[ϕ], 
    Sin[θ] Sin[ϕ], Cos[ϕ]}], {Darker[Green], 
    Arrow[{{0, 0, 0}, {Cos[θ] Sin[ϕ], 
    Sin[θ] Sin[ϕ], Cos[ϕ]}}]}}, 
  Boxed -> False], {θ, 0, 2 π}, {{ϕ, .3}, 0, π}
]

Example data would be four columns, count, xcoord, ycoord, zcoord with the arrow always originating at {0,0,0}. Eg.:

29,000  -0.01067794941476   0.02756065400125    -0.999563100433
30,000  0.07325953072891    0.02559283462283    -0.9969844772981
31,000  -0.005206656374045  0.003809329014993   -0.9999791896544
32,000  0.02758052262388    -0.05023222467678   -0.9983566689194
33,000  -0.1557215814703    -0.3822367499471    -0.9108489754368
34,000  -0.02183443939687   -0.00812340680513   -0.9997285969292
35,000  0.01756289415653    -0.2391312516637    -0.9708284035949
36,000  0.013100869468      0.05208820150161    -0.9985565514699
37,000  -0.0008172482767943 0.005544158052967   -0.9999842970851
38,000  0.02308873858545    0.020848131024      -0.9995160156713
39,000  0.06752309311563    0.09324836930484    -0.9933505793616
40,000  0.02615295865362    0.03324502256054    -0.9991049950974
41,000  -0.0008738204745279 -0.0004833505961394 0.9999995014049
42,000  0.004601097882045   -0.004323429447502  0.9999800687294
43,000  -0.009100312671195  -0.002732110663704  0.9999548589214
44,000  -0.05848480012902   -0.00294792905828   0.9982839465143
45,000  0.006215303347235   0.01116769657516    0.9999183229432
46,000  0.01840111926142    0.006187994275549   0.999811536009
47,000  -0.008149533077329  0.00850954038223    0.9999305840073
48,000  -0.008600208894006  0.01017799852903    0.9999112184354
49,000  8.736914618394e-05  -0.003424202086108  0.9999941335861

Answer 1

1. Import your tip position data, removing the "count" column, which seems irrelevant:

table = {{29000, -0.01067794941476, 0.02756065400125, -0.999563100433}, {30000, 0.07325953072891, 0.02559283462283, -0.9969844772981}, {31000, -0.005206656374045, 0.003809329014993, -0.9999791896544}, {32000, 0.02758052262388, -0.05023222467678, -0.9983566689194}, {33000, -0.1557215814703, -0.3822367499471, -0.9108489754368}, {34000, -0.02183443939687, -0.00812340680513, -0.9997285969292}, {35000, 0.01756289415653, -0.2391312516637, -0.9708284035949}, {36000, 0.013100869468, 0.05208820150161, -0.9985565514699}, {37000, -0.0008172482767943, 0.005544158052967, -0.9999842970851}, {38000, 0.02308873858545, 0.020848131024, -0.9995160156713}, {39000, 0.06752309311563, 0.09324836930484, -0.9933505793616}, {40000, 0.02615295865362, 0.03324502256054, -0.9991049950974}, {41000, -0.0008738204745279, -0.0004833505961394, 0.9999995014049}, {42000, 0.004601097882045, -0.004323429447502, 0.9999800687294}, {43000, -0.009100312671195, -0.002732110663704, 0.9999548589214}, {44000, -0.05848480012902, -0.00294792905828, 0.9982839465143}, {45000, 0.006215303347235, 0.01116769657516, 0.9999183229432}, {46000, 0.01840111926142, 0.006187994275549, 0.999811536009}, {47000, -0.008149533077329, 0.00850954038223, 0.9999305840073}, {48000, -0.008600208894006, 0.01017799852903, 0.9999112184354}, {49000, 0.00008736914618394, -0.003424202086108, 0.9999941335861}}[[All, 2 ;;]];

2. Modify the specification of your moving arrow to use Arrow[{{0, 0, 0}, tip}], then construct a table of graphics objects in which tip takes all values from table above.

3. Use ListAnimate on the list of Graphics3D objects to generate an animation.

The result is:

ListAnimate@Table[
  Graphics3D[{
    {Opacity[0.5], Sphere[]},
    {EdgeForm[{Dashed, Gray}], FaceForm[None], 
     Cylinder[{{0, 0, -.001}, {0, 0, .001}}]},
    {Dashed, Gray, Line[{{0, 0, 0}, {1, 0, 0}}]},
    {Dashed, Gray, Line[{{0, 0, 0}, {0, 1, 0}}]},
    {Dashed, Line[{{0, 0, 0}, {0, 0, 1}}]},
    Arrow[{{1, 0, 0}, {1.3, 0, 0}}],
    Arrow[{{0, 1, 0}, {0, 1.3, 0}}],
    Arrow[{{0, 0, 1}, {0, 0, 1.3}}],
    {Purple, Arrow[{{0, 0, 0}, {Pi/4, 0, Pi/4}}]},
    Text[Style["x", 18], {1.4, 0, 0}],
    Text[Style["y", 18], {0, 1.4, 0}],
    Text[Style["Easy Axis [\!\(\*OverscriptBox[\(z\), \(^\)]\)]", 18], {0, 0, 1.4}],
    Text[Style["H", 18, Purple], {Pi/3.4, 0, Pi/3.4}],

    (* Here are the changes to your original graphics code: *)
    Text[Style["M", 14, Darker[Green]], .5 tip],
    {Darker[Green], Arrow[{{0, 0, 0}, tip}]}

   },
   Boxed -> False
  ],
  {tip, table}
]