Multiwavelength variability of the radio quasar J2042+7508

In this paper, we present our results of study on the long term multiwavelength variability properties of the quasar J2042+7508 (4C +74.26) – a giant radio source located at the redshift of 0.104. This source exhibits interesting emission and structural properties when observed in various wavelengths, including X-ray, optical and radio frequencies. Therefore, exploring these properties through multifrequency variability studies presents a great importance to our understanding of the evolution of quasars and radio-loud unification schemes. We found a trend of anticorrelation with time lag of about three months between optical and radio light curves. A weak correlation with a longer time lag of about 230 days might also exist. Using the structure function method, applied to our six years long, optical data, we arrived at a conclusion that the quasar variability with amplitude of about 0.3 magnitude, is likely caused by an accretion disk instability.