IC 349 is a small, fan-shaped reflection nebula located only 30'' from 23 Tau; its nucleus is, by a factor 15, the brightest area of the Pleiades nebulosity. We propose that IC 349 is a fragment of the Taurus-Auriga molecular cloud that has been encountered by the Pleiades in that cluster's southward motion and is being illuminated and shaped by the radiation field of 23 Tau. New Hubble Space Telescope multicolor imagery and the structure, colors, and surface brightness of IC 349 are discussed in terms of that hypothesis. What is known of the proper motion of the nebula, what can be inferred of the properties of the nebula from its color, and what is expected from radiation pressure theory appear to be compatible with this cloudlet-encounter hypothesis.
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