That bright, pinkish region in the center is the constellation Sagittarius. The center of our Milk Way galaxy lies in the general direction of Sagittarius. The actual center (see + below) is believed to be located about 25-30,000 light years from Earth. One light year, the distance light travels in a year at its constant speed of apprx 186,000 miles/second, is roughly 6 TRILLION miles.-ETL
The Annotated Galactic Center (denoted +)
Credit: W. Keel (U. Alabama, Tuscaloosa), Cerro Tololo, Chile
Explanation: The sky toward the center of our Galaxy is filled with a wide variety of celestial wonders. Many are easily visible with binoculars. Constellations near the galactic center include Sagittarius, Libra, Scorpius, Scutum, and Ophiuchus. Nebulae include Messier Objects M8, M16, M17, M20 and the Pipe Nebula. Open star clusters include M6, M7, M18, M21, M23, M24, M25. Globular star clusters include M9, M22, M28, M54, M69, M70. And don't forget Baade's Window. Click on the photo to get the un-annotated version.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990911.html
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"The galactic center in the direction of Sagittarius. The primary stars of Sagittarius are indicated in red."
"The galactic center harbors a compact object of very large mass (named Sagittarius A*), strongly suspected to be a supermassive black hole [roughly 3 million times as massive as the Sun]. Most galaxies are believed to have a supermassive black hole at their center.[22]
The Galaxy's bar is thought to be about 27,000 light-years long, running through its center at a 44 ± 10 degree angle to the line between the Sun and the center of the Galaxy. It is composed primarily of red stars, believed to be ancient (see red dwarf, red giant). The bar is surrounded by a ring called the '5-kpc ring' that contains a large fraction of the molecular hydrogen present in the Galaxy, as well as most of the Milky Way's star formation activity. Viewed from the Andromeda Galaxy, it would be the brightest feature of our own galaxy.[23]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milky_Way#Galactic_center