The Milky Way is not a flat disk but is warped into a twisted shape like a Pringles chip.

For decades, astronomers believed the Milky Way was a flat, stable disk of stars. However, a 2019 study published in Nature Astronomy by researchers from Macquarie University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences changed this view. Using data from the WISE space telescope, they mapped 1,339 classical Cepheid stars, which are massive young stars used as 'standard candles' to measure cosmic distances.The resulting 3D map showed that the Milky Way's disk becomes increasingly twisted as it moves further from the galactic center. Instead of a straight line, the outer edges are warped into a flared, spiral pattern resembling a potato chip. This phenomenon is known as galactic warping and is common in spiral galaxies, though it was difficult to confirm for our own galaxy from our position inside it.The primary cause of this distortion is the gravitational torque exerted by the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds. These are two satellite galaxies that orbit the Milky Way and pull on its dark matter halo. This interaction creates a 'wobble' in the disk, much like a spinning top that is slowing down. Recent data from the European Space Agency's Gaia mission has further confirmed that this warp is not static but is actually precessing, or rotating, around the galactic center.