In astrology, a 'basket' is a rare chart shape: every piece but one crowds into a single half of the board, and the lone outlier becomes the handle — the piece that carries the rest. This month the board obliges. Mars, Uranus, Saturn, and Neptune have crowded into the pre-dawn east and south, while Venus stands entirely alone across the board, blazing in the evening west. The slow pieces here — Saturn, Uranus, Neptune — are the same three an economist named Barbault once tracked for a century, convinced their spacing meant something for the wider game. We are not economists. We are only here to check if he was right to watch. Bring binoculars; two of the four pieces will not show themselves to the naked eye.

Binoculars or a small telescope (Uranus and Neptune will not reveal themselves to the naked eye), a star chart for Taurus and Pisces, warm layers — pre-dawn air runs colder than you'd expect in July — and one object you don't mind calling "the handle."