VLBI, MERLIN and VLA observations of the blazar 1156 + 295: a bending relativistic jet

We present VLBI maps at 18, 6, 2.8 and 1.35 cm of the blazar 1156+295 which show a jet emerging from the core along position angle (PA)$\sim$200 and bending to larger PA further out. Maps at 6 cm from 1987 May and 1988 November show different structure, indicating the probable movement from the core of a component with a very high apparent transverse velocity. The 2.8- and 1.35-cm maps are consistent with this hypothesis. We also present MERLIN and VLA total intensity and polarization maps at 18, 6 and 2 cm which show a 2-arcsec jet emerging from the core in PA - 190. We show how a bending relativistic jet can also explain the variability seen in this source.