| While large, cataclysmic solar flares and eruptions tend to dominate our attention, there is a great deal to be learned from small, faint flares. Indeed, one of the benefits that comes from using the Sun as a case study for astrophysical processes is that relatively small, weakly energetic events can be well observed, not just the large, pathological ones. In the past, determining how energy is released and particles are accelerated in solar flares has proved to be an elusive topic. Understanding this would elucidate how and when flares occur, how they relate to coronal mass ejections, the extent to which they heat the corona, and what connections they have with the rest of the heliosphere. Of particular interest is the energy carried by accelerated electrons, and the mechanisms by which they attain those energies. We attack this by studying how energy release properties scale across flare size. This talk will show recent results from the smallest hard X-ray flares observed by the FOXSI rocket and NuSTAR spacecraft. The talk will also discuss some of the joys and challenges in utilizing space-based telescopes for solar observation that were not designed for the Sun. |