“Erupting into Space” by Michael Benson. An 86-mile-high volcanic plume explodes above the horizon of Jupiter’s moon Io. The plume is erupting over a caldera (volcanic depression), named Pillan Patera, after a South American god of thunder, fire, and volcanoes.

Hello again, space readers. Look Up is back from a short hiatus while your DCist Space Editor was out in the field. Let’s start with some events in D.C. before we get to the main course.

>> The Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum just opened a new exhibit, Beyond: Visions of Our Solar System in the second floor art gallery. Artist Michael Benson created his work after researching photographs from interplanetary missions like Voyager and Cassini and realizing they were indeed works of art. Benson processed the images to make wide-field views of the landscapes on Mars, Jupiter and more. See the exhibit through May 2011.

>> Want to meet an astronaut? Head to the Japan Information & Culture Center at 1155 21st Street, NW to hear JAXA astronaut Naoko Yamazaki speak about her time as a Mission Specialist aboard STS-131 to the International Space Station. Doors at 12:30 p.m., event at 1 p.m. Event is free, but you must RSVP (only up to two people) with your name, affiliation, and the name of your guest here.

Now, ready to head south? Let’s go!

>> Not to make this too personal, but I took a pretty awesome trip to Puerto Rico last week. Those guys make a mean mojito. You know what else is down there? The largest radio telescope in the world.

>> The space shuttle Atlantis launched successfully — for what might be the very last time — last week. Watch some truly incredible video from the Solid Rocket Boosters (it’s long, so you can skip through to see the launch and the booster separation from every angle — 14:45 and 27:00 are good places to start). Atlantis will land this Wednesday at 8:48 a.m.

A few friends and I went to Titusville to watch the launch, unexpectedly camping out at the last minute for what was an incredible experience. Many of my friends have been inspired to see one of the last two scheduled launches and have asked for my advice. And I figured, why not share it with my faithful space readers, too?

So you want to see a space shuttle launch…

Plan Now: There are only two more launches scheduled: September 16, and the recently rescheduled launch in mid-November, day TBA. I’ve been lucky to see three on-time launches — but remember that launches get delayed all the time. So come to terms with the fact you may get all the way down to Florida, spend money on your flight and hotel, and listen as the launch is scrubbed 10 seconds to launch. Try to think of this as a Florida/beach vacation (tips on activities, including other space stuff, below), with the awesome hope you get to see a launch, too.