An intuitive 3D map of the Galactic warp's precession traced by
  classical Cepheids
  The Milky Way's neutral hydrogen (HI) disk is warped and flared. However, a
dearth of accurate HI-based distances has thus far prevented the development of
an accurate Galactic disk model. Moreover, the extent to which our Galaxy's
stellar and gas disk morphologies are mutually consistent is also unclear.
Classical Cepheids, primary distance indicators with distance accuracies of
3-5%, offer a unique opportunity to develop an intuitive and accurate
three-dimensional picture. Here, we establish a robust Galactic disk model
based on 1339 classical Cepheids. We provide strong evidence that the warp's
line of nodes is not oriented in the Galactic Center-Sun direction. Instead, it
subtends a mean angle of 17.5 \pm 1 (formal) \pm 3 (systematic) and exhibits a
leading spiral pattern. Our Galaxy thus follows Briggs' rule for spiral
galaxies, which suggests that the origin of the warp is associated with torques
forced by the massive inner disk. The stellar disk traced by Cepheids follows
the gas disk in terms of their amplitudes; the stellar disk extends to at least
20 kpc. This morphology provides a crucial, updated map for studies of the
kinematics and archaeology of the Galactic disk.
