A graphic of a Tyken's Rift.
A Tyken's Rift is an anomaly in space which absorbs energy of the types generated by starships, and which is not easily detected by sensors.
It was named after Bela Tyken, a Melthusian starship captain who discovered the phenomena. Analyzing the rift, Tyken determined that a massive explosion would dislocate the anomaly, and, using his ship's cargo of heavy explosives, including the complex elements anicium and yurium, Tyken was able to escape the rift through the ruptured center.
In the year 2367, the Federation vessel Brattain mysteriously disappeared and was discovered by the USS Enterprise-D twenty-nine days later trapped in a Tyken's Rift, located near an uncharted binary star system. Becoming caught in the rift itself, the crew of the Enterprise-D discovered evidence of an alien vessel, also unable to escape and, collaborating, were able to free themselves by releasing hydrogen from the Bussard collectors. (TNG: "Night Terrors")