The population of clearly identified anomalous X-ray pulsars has recently grown to seven , however , one candidate anomalous X-ray pulsar ( AXP ) still eludes re-confirmation .
Here , we present a set of seven Chandra ACIS-S observations of the transient pulsar AX J1845.0–0258 , obtained during 2003 .
Our observations reveal a faint X-ray point source within the ASCA error circle of AX J1845.0–0258 ’ s discovery , which we designate CXOU J184454.6–025653 and tentatively identify as the quiescent AXP .
Its spectrum is well described by an absorbed single-component blackbody ( kT \sim 2.0 keV ) or power law ( \Gamma \sim 1.0 ) that is steady in flux on timescales of at least months , but fainter than AX J1845.0–0258 was during its 1993 period of X-ray enhancement by at least a factor of 13 .
Compared to the outburst spectrum of AX J1845.0–0258 , CXOU J184454.6–025653 is considerably harder : if truly the counterpart , then its spectral behaviour is contrary to that seen in the established transient AXP XTE J1810–197 , which softened from kT \sim 0.67 keV to \sim 0.18 keV in quiescence .
This unexpected result prompts us to examine the possibility that we have observed an unrelated source , and we discuss the implications for AXPs , and magnetars in general .

\PACS 97.60.Gb 97.60.Jd 95.85.Nv