In an effort to locate the sites of emission at different frequencies
and physical processes causing variability in blazar jets, we have
obtained high time-resolution observations of BL Lacertae over a wide
wavelength range: with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
at 6000-10000 Å with 2 minute cadence; with the Neil Gehrels Swift
satellite at optical, UV, and X-ray bands; with the Nuclear
Spectroscopic Telescope Array at hard X-ray bands; with the Fermi Large
Area Telescope at γ-ray energies; and with the Whole Earth Blazar
Telescope for measurement of the optical flux density and polarization.
All light curves are correlated, with similar structure on timescales
from hours to days. The shortest timescale of variability at optical
frequencies observed with TESS is ∼0.5 hr. The most common timescale
is 13 ± 1 hr, comparable with the minimum timescale of X-ray
variability, 14.5 hr. The multiwavelength variability properties cannot
be explained by a change solely in the Doppler factor of the emitting
plasma. The polarization behavior implies that there are both ordered
and turbulent components to the magnetic field in the jet. Correlation
analysis indicates that the X-ray variations lag behind the γ-ray
and optical light curves by up to ∼0.4 day. The timescales of
variability, cross-frequency lags, and polarization properties can be
explained by turbulent plasma that is energized by a shock in the jet
and subsequently loses energy to synchrotron and inverse Compton
radiation in a magnetic field of strength ∼3 G.