Milky Way is twisted, not flat: Astronomers make new 3D map

Macquarie University and Chinese Academy of Sciences astronomers claim to have built the first 'accurate' 3D map of the Milky Way galaxy that shows it is "warped and twisted" and not flat. The team plotted the locations of 1,339 stars called classical Cepheids to create the outline. They found that the galaxy's outer gas disk has an S-like, warped shape.