  The large-angle (low-l) correlations of the Cosmic Microwave Background
exhibit several statistically significant anomalies compared to the standard
inflationary big-bang model, however no connection has hitherto been drawn
between them. Here we show that the quadrupole and octopole are far more
correlated (99.97% C.L.) than previously thought. The quadrupole plane and the
three octopole planes are remarkably aligned. Three of these planes are
orthogonal to the ecliptic at a level inconsistent with gaussian random
statistically isotropic skies at 99.8% C.L., and the normals to these planes
are aligned at 99.9% C.L. with the direction of the cosmological dipole and
with the equinoxes. The remaining octopole plane is orthogonal to the
supergalactic plane at >99.9% C.L. In a combined quadrupole-octopole map, the
ecliptic plane narrowly threads between a hot spot and a cold spot over
approximately 1/3 of the sky, and separates the three strongest extrema (in the
south ecliptic hemisphere) from the three weakest extrema (in the north
ecliptic hemisphere).
