The nature of optical and near-infrared variability of BL Lacertae
  Since 1997, BL Lacertae has undergone a phase of high optical activity, with
the occurrence of several prominent outbursts. Starting from 1999, the Whole
Earth Blazar Telescope (WEBT) consortium has organized various multifrequency
campaigns on this blazar, collecting tens of thousands of data points. One of
the main issues in the analysis of this huge dataset has been the study of
colour variability. The massive amount of optical and near-infrared data
collected during the campaigns enables us to perform a deep analysis of
multiband data, with the aim of understanding the flux variability mechanisms.
We use a new approach for the analysis of these data, focusing on the source
spectral evolution. We show that the overall behaviour of the BL Lacertae light
and colour curves can be explained in terms of changing viewing angle of a
moving, discrete emitting region, which causes variable Doppler boosting of the
corresponding radiation. A fractal helical structure is suggested to be at the
origin of the different time scales of variability.
