2000A&A...358..451P

Analysis of radio light curves of the γ-ray bright blazar 0202+149 at frequencies of 37, 22, 14.5, 8, and 4.8GHz during the period 1984-1998 reveals a 4-year cycle of variability with substructure on a shorter time scale of about 1.3-yr. The 4.8-37GHz spectral index of the source gradually increases from -0.04 (T=1990.2) to 0.4 (T=1996.6) and during outbursts shows strong variations with a time scale of about 1 year and an amplitude up to ∼0.4. VLBI images at 8, 22, and 43GHz show a core-dominated structure with a faint jet in the northwest direction, which we trace out to 7mas, with a bent inner part (r≤1 mas) consisting of at least 2 components. The connection of the jet activity with the 4-year cycle of total flux density variability is discussed.